Bottle Tree Envy

I'm so excited to present to my friends, my family, my fellow bloggers, and Studio Thursday clients. . . . .drum roll PLEASE. .....MY BOTTLE TREE!!!!!!! My dear friend, Ellen, gave me my bottle tree for my birthday back in December. My dear husband, Patrick, put it in the frozen ground at Christmas. And there it sat for too many weeks before I finally was inspired by the sunshine to dig out all of my favorite colored bottles from college. . .and adorn my tree. I think I have every color represented.. .so, there should be no evil spirits entering my kitchen door!!!

A Little Bit of Art and A Whole Lot of Puppies!!!

Lots of love going on around here!! Love in the studio and love in the house. . .a lot of dogs being saved and little bit of art being made. . .it's all good, though!!!! I've got a new project starting that I'm uber excited about!!!! It's called BeeBeez. . . .and it stands for button bracelets. I love, love, love, buttons...they are just so much fun to look at and collect, but it turns out that they are even more fun to make!!!! So, I started thinking. . .wouldn't it be cool to make a fun accessory for kids and teens (and me) where they can show off their collection of buttons in a way other than cramming them on their backpacks? And wouldn't it be cool if they could express what they love, feel passion for, and just find plain silly? And wouldn't it be even cooler if they could swap and trade them just for funsies? So. . .I came up with BeeBeez...making buttons that celebrate anything and everything and fabric cuff bracelets made of scraps to wear them on! The picture is my first prototype. . .a product of an idea at 2 in the morning that I just had to do. . .but I am making great progress with the final product. And a big shout out to Ellen who has discovered the button maker inside of her.....I couldn't be doing this without her....and she has already raised so much money for the rescue with the buttons she has made and sold!!

With my passion for animals one of my favorite things to work on in the studio is animal art. . .being in a bit of slump I thought today I would just turn my head to everything else and take 20 minutes for a quick pup painting. . ..

Ellen has also been venturing with me to rescue the dogs of late!!! We've brought back so many precious babies, many of them already in their forever homes and a few still waiting!!!!

Gabriella is a sweetheart of a little girl who was a big matted mess that was itching terribly and quite uncomfortable for her first few days with us. . .but now she is a comfy sweet little shit-zu mix that is waiting for the perfect forever family for her to live out her golden years with.

Ariel (now Lieve) was a deaf dalmatian puppy that found herself scared and alone at the shelter. Not anymore. . .after hanging with us for a few days and making big buddies with Finn, Lieve has gone to live with her new dad who thinks she is the greatest thing since the Beatles. . .cause it's Valentines and all you need is Love!!!!Wally, or better known at one point and time as the cowardly lion, was once a mess of a cocker spaniel, now....after having several pounds of matted fur shaved off of him, he looks more like a naked mole rat...but I won't show you that picture!!Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert (now Frisco). . .what a guy....this little cocker has enough energy to power a locomotive. . .good thing his forever family is up for the challenge!!

Precious Petunia (now Uno) slept the whole way back on Ellen's shoulder. . .poor thing was spayed just before transport, so we thought it was just because she was so groggy. . .turns out, according to her new family, she is just one laid back sweet lovin' Boston Terrier!

We've made a new addition to our family as well. . .I'd like to introduce Nana....actually I like to call her Peanut Butter and Ba"nana". . ..Nana is a 2 year old Newfoundland that we were fostering for another rescue group and well, Newfies have been Patrick's dream dog for as long I have known him, so after she spent two weeks with us and we discovered that she was absolutely as amazing as the breed is known to be. . .we adopted her!!!!

Nana was an owner surrender and when she was saved by Big Fluffy Dog Rescue....she was quite a physical mess, covered in mud and matted to the skin. When I first met her at the vet she looked like this....

Now, after a good bath and grooming. . .she is a beautiful girl that doesn't seemed to be phased at all over the fact that she doesn't have a gorgeous Newfie coat....

Boston Terrier Gets a Name and Studio Thursday Clients Win Big!!!!!!

This precious girl is stuck in a high kill shelter and waiting for us to rescue her. . .she didn't even have a name. . .just a number...so, I sent out an email announcing a contest for the first creative name to be emailed back....the winner would receive a $25 gift card to the studio. Well, I should have known that my customers would rally not just for the gift card, but for the sake of the Boston Terrier as well!!!! Everyone responded so quickly and with so many great ideas that I couldn't just declare one winner. . ..so I am announcing THREE winners!!!

FIRST TO RESPOND: Cara Finger

MOST CREATIVE: Claudia Pullen with "Valentina" because it's February and she is looking for LOVE!!!!

MY FAVORITE: Ingrid Derrickson with "Petunia". . .I just love it...sounds sweet and southern!